Naruto: A Cut Above
by The Bell of Daybreak
Summary: As a young boy, Naruto was always alone, and he never understood why. However, after meeting and becoming friends with Aichi, a young boy from the prestigious Roronoa Clan, a whole new path becomes open to him. Watch as these two friends go through the Academy to the Chunin exams and beyond in a quest to become a cut above the rest. Rated T for slight swearing. I'm back people!


**A Cut Above – A Naruto Story**

**PROLOGUE PART 1  
**

**Please see the Author's note at the end of this chapter for an explanation of where I've been, and what the heck I've been doing. Enjoy!"**

* * *

Roronoa Zokalo sat at the table quietly, sipping his tea every now and then. He cut an imposing figure, standing broad shouldered at 6 foot 5 and sporting a strong chest with a chiseled. He wore a simple blue Haori with the front left open, exposing his muscled chest. He wore black hakama pants and a black bandanna that covered the top of his head. He had a thick, mint green mustache that pointed up at both ends. It was a strong mustache, very silky, and had just the right amount of angular and sharp edges for a handlebar. The man sighed softly and closed his eyes slowly as he took another sip, letting the sound f the rain against the compound's windows soothe him. And he needed said soothing, very badly. The council of Kiri had been acting very suspicious lately; something was up, and he had a feeling it was nothing good. A sudden knock on the kitchen door jarred him from his thoughts.

"Enter," he answered, his voice deep and commanding. One of the clan's guards stepped through the door.

"Roronoa-Sama, the commander of the third shinobi regiment is here to meet with you. He has several Chunin accompanying him." Zokalo took the information in quickly and nodded, gesturing the guard away with a flourish of his hand. He knew it. He KNEW it. He knew this would happen. And that was why he made preparations.

"Grant them entrance. Tell them to meet me here in the kitchen." With a bow, the guardsman left. Once the door shut behind him, Zokalo whispered something to the guard standing next to him and with a nod, he shunshined away. Satisfied, Zokalo turned back to his tea, at the same time listening as he heard the main house's door open.

"Commander, Roronoa-Sama will see you-" he was interrupted by the loud twang of metal and a somewhat quiet, wet 'schlick' noise. To Zokalo's trained ears, the sound of a katana running through a man's heart was undeniable. A moment later, his suspicions were confirmed as his sentry's bloody body fell through the kitchen door and hit the floor. Zokalo didn't flinch as the commander barged into the room, flanked by six Chunin who immediately moved to either side. Zokalo took another sip of his tea.

"Ah, commander. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Zokalo's voice was pleasant, every bit the courteous host that he was known to be. He pointedly ignored the dead body and the stench of blood, acting as if nothing was wrong. "Would you like to sit? Or perhaps I could make you some tea? I strongly recommend using the leaves that grow in the greenhouse out back. Truly, our oolong is the best in Kiri." To make his point, the head of the Roronoa clan drained his cup and refilled it with the closed container sitting on the table. "As you can see, we're not much for tea ceremonies here. That allows the drink to cool, and ruins the perfect flavor. No, it has to be drunk while still boiling."

The commander stepped forward slightly, ignoring everything Zokalo had just said. "Roronoa Zokalo, by the orders of the Mizukage, we are here to kill you. And, failing that, to delay you until the general forces arrive."

Zokalo set his cup down and leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. For a moment, the room was deathly silent, the continuous rain pattering on the windows being the only sound. Neither side made a move, though it was obvious that the commander and his shinobi were tense, while Zokalo was perfectly relaxed. The clan head slowly grabbed his teacup, looked down into the steaming hot contents, and took a slow, deep breath. Then, he spoke in his deepest, most authoritative voice.

"Very well."

He immediately threw the teacup at the commander's head, its heated contents scalding his eyes. The commander screamed in agony, his hands immediately covering his face as he fell to the ground in surprise, scrabbling to get the boiling liquid out of his eyes.

Seeing their commander disabled, the six Chunin leapt into action, hoping to finish the fight before it began. Zokalo stood, the chair flying out from underneath him as he gripped the small, circular table by the edge and flung it at the first three ninja like a Frisbee, sending them flying into a wall. There was an audible, sickening crunch as at least one of the three shinobi had their upper body flattened. For good measure, Zokalo threw kunai into each of their foreheads, ensuring that they wouldn't be getting up again. The Roronoa then reached into his haori and pulled out a single katana, unsheathing it and putting the hilt into his mouth in a single fluid motion. As he bit down to keep the katana from sliding, he crossed his arms and reached into the folds of his haori, swiftly drawing two more swords—one in his right hand, and one in his right, in true Roronoa fashion. The triple blades were famous in Kiri, and although not a part of their bloodline, Zokalo had a feeling it was fear of the Tri-Sword Style more than any bloodline that had the Mizukage out for Roronoa blood.

Immediately after the swords left their sheathes, Zokalo leapt at the other three chunin, blades glinting with deadly white light. By the time they realized what had happened and tried to reverse direction away from the deadly swordsman, he was already upon them, continuing the dance of blades and blood. Red liquid splattered everywhere, staining the blue of Zokalo's garment and lending a gaunt look to the otherwise neutral kitchen.

Zokalo Roronoa was a quick man in battle. He had to be—in order to lead the Roronoa clan, he needed to be faster than three swords, all swinging from different directions. For those of you who don't know, that's pretty fast. In this particular instance, it had been a mere five seconds between the tea hitting the commander's eyes and the fall of the now-unrecognizable chunin.

And the only blood on Zokalo's body didn't belong to him

By this point, the commander had all but recovered his sight, but his reaction times were not as quick as the clan head's. he tried to stand, but as he did so, he felt two sharp pains, one in each arm; Zokalo had taken his hand swords and stabbed them through the forearm, leaving them there. The commander cried out in pain as the katanas sliced cleanly through his bones without a sound. The commander, now impaled to the ground face-up, flicked his eyes around that all of his soldiers—each of them an A-Rank Chunin—dead. Three had been brutally crushed and stabbed between the eyes and the others looked like they would belong in a butcher shop not too far down the street.

His eyes grew wide with fear as Zokalo removed the blade from his mouth, and held it in a two-handed grip, the blade pointing towards the ground. He lifted his body as much as he could, and tried futilely to scramble back, struggling against the blades near his wrists. "N-No, please! I was just following orders! I have nothing against-!"

Zokalo withdrew the blade, watching as the dead commander fell back onto the floor with an unceremonious 'thump'. He sheathed his blades, and quietly said, "Like I said, boiling hot." He turned to the clan guard who had appeared behind him.

"Zokalo-Sama," he began with a slight bow, "preparations are complete. Many of the family members and clan secrets have been evacuated from Kiri, and the seals are in place. Only us and the remaining guardsmen are left." Zokalo nodded It had been a close call, really, predicting Yagura's intentions, but in the end, conflict was inevitable. With a long career of anti-bloodline speeches and propaganda, there had to be another part to his agenda. And death is always a part of any shinobi's agenda.

"Good, let us make haste, I can feel more Kiri-nin closing in already," Zokalo's baritone voice rumbled. With another nod, the two quickly shunshined away to a hill close to the compound. Quickly telling the guards to go meet up with the rest of the clan, Zokalo turned back around and took one last look at the village that he had called home for much of his life. From this distance and this vantage point, he couldn't make out any specific details, but he could see the entire village, and he could see pain.

He watched as men that he had worked with, men that he had trusted, committed heinous atrocities—killing innocents, setting fire to clan compounds—with the people still inside! Finally, he spared one last glance at the Roronoa compound, watching as Kiri-nin began to close in on it and search for stragglers. With one last solemn sigh, Zokalo turned his back and put his hands together in the 'Ram' seal

"Kai."

"As the word left his lips, the Roronoa household lit up with a bright blue flash before promptly exploding, vaporizing any ninja who was unfortunate enough to be caught inside the building and the blast radius. He walked away, tuning out the screams of agony and despair. THAT had been an elaborate setup, and once the clan compound was burning, Zokalo let loose a lot of tension. The chain of explosive tags and connector seals to prevent uneven flows of chakra through the network had to be aligned perfectly, or it would not promise the same amount of destruction The Roronoas needed this; it simultaneously drew the attention away from the village exits and burned off anyone in pursuit, giving the clan a massive and much-needed head start. If the seals had been wrongly-placed, the clan might not have survived the night. As it was the masters of kenjutsu were free, walking away from the bonfire that was Kirigakure

* * *

A few hours later found the Roronoa clan trekking through the forest, the guardsmen forming a loose perimeter around the group as they continued their trek. Zokalo walked at the front, his eyes scanning the area for potential ambushers. He knew that his sedond-in-command was in the back keeping a similar eye out for pusuers.

After a little while, the clan head felt a small hand clutch his haori sleeve. He looked down to see his son, Zoro, and smiled grimly, trying to look reassuring. Zoro gripped tighter. For a good while, the two led the clan along in silence, but eventually, the boy spoke up.

"Tou-san, where are we gonna go now?" he asked, worry shining in his black eyes. Zokalo sighed and patted the young boy on the head, ruffling his hair, a slight smile on his face

"I don't know for sure, Zoro. We cannot wander forever. Not everyone in the clan has the same amount of stamina as we do, and we'll need to stop somewhere eventually. Our best bet is to make it to Fire Country, and hope that we can find refuge in a village, preferably Konohagakure. Until then, you need to be strong, not just for the clan, but for yourself as well. We'll find a new home, I promise." Zoro nodded and grinned, satisfied with the explanation. Zokalo allowed himself a small chuckle before turning his attention back to the road ahead. He just hoped that he could keep that promise.

-2 weeks later-

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. The life of a Kage was difficult, especially when it came to managing the village, foreign matters, and the most dreadful of them all, paperwork. Speaking of foreign matters, there had been increasing reports of Iwa-nin clashing with Konoha ninja on the border between the Fire Country and Grass country. Why there were Iwa shinobi there, one could only speculate, and Hiruzen didn't like it. There had also been reports of many smaller countries fighting over borders, some of which included Konoha shinobi, and the local dignitaries were demanding answers—despite the obvious fact that border patrol was a standard shinobi mission for any given Hidden Village. IF these asinine conflicts continued, Hiruzen feared that he would have a full-on diplomatic crisis on his hands. The old man sighed and stood up from his chair, taking a moment to look out over the large village. Even when he was stressed, Sarutobi only needed to stare into the face of his village, his special people, and he would be fine. Well, sometimes he had his pipe, but still. His eyes wandered to the Hokage Monument, one face in particular. 'You had been here for so short… Why did you have to leave?'

A few moments later, a Chunin messenger came in through the doors to his office.

"Hokage-sama, there is a large group of people at the gate. They say they are a refugee clan, called the Roronoa clan, from Kiri, and the head is demanding that he have an audience with you at once." Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. An entire clan? This… was worrying; what could possibly have happened to prompt an entire clan to simply leave a village and come to another? Hiruzen was naturally suspicious; one did not simply allow an entire clan to leave a village, but if it was an attempted invasion, it wasn't a very good one. But Konoha needed kenjutsu masters, and the Rronoa clan was known both for its honor and its swordsmanship. If they were here for the reason Hiruzen thought they were, he would do anything he needed to keep the clan here. But he couldn't do that without angering Kiri and starting a war

Yes, the life of a Kage was difficult indeed

* * *

Half an hour later, Hiruzen sat at his desk, across from him Zokalo and other representatives from the Roronoa clan. After finishing the retelling of their accounts, Zokalo then explained the importance of finding a new home for his clan as soon as possible. Once he had finished, Hiruzen closed his eyes and processed the information, taking a long drag from his pipe and exhaling the smoke through his nose. The benefits of having a clan of swordsmen move in to Konoha were certainly great, with the only downside being the possibility of retaliation from Kiri. And given how unstable the country was right now, Hiruzen couldn't tell if retaliation would be highly likely or highly unlikely. After pondering for a bit longer, Hiruzen opened his eyes.

"You say you left no trace of your personal files in your home?" Sarutobi asked carefully.

Zokalo nodded. "Yes, We burned every file that we could not take with us, and our spies within the government burned sensitive information." He paused. "I understand that spies within a Hidden Village's government don't bode well for our reputation, but given the Mizukage's OWN reputation, I—"

"I understand your situation, Zokalo-sama," Hiruzen interrupted, slowly and carefully, "but taking in ninja from another village is risky business."

Zokalo stood up abruptly. "Hokage-sama, I beg of you—!" he stopped at Hiruzen's raised hand

"Taking in ninja from another village is risky business, but taking in civilians is not."

Zokalo, for al of his wit and knowledge, couldn't fathom the Hokage's words. "I don't understand what civilian laws have to do with this, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen smiled. "May I see your hitai-ate, Roronoa-sama?" Zokalo merely nodded, removing the metal band with the kiri logo from his forehead. He scowled slightly at the symbol, and handed it to the Hokage. Hiruzen nodded. "Thank you, now…" his nostril twitched as he began making hand signs. "Ah… Ah… AH… CHOOO!" A great spout of fire shot from Hiruzen's nose, melting the metal and scorching the fabric, leaving the logo now unrecognizable. He looked falsely apologetic. "Oh dear, I seem to have destroyed the one thing that could have possibly connected you to Kirigakure." His eyes twinkled, reflecting the smile.

The Roronoa clan representatives looked on in awe, before Zokalo's eyes flashed with understanding.

"It is said that you are known as The Professor, and now I can see why. "

Hiruzen stood and walked over to look out the window. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, the overly innocent tone obvious in his vice. He turned his head slightly to look at the representatives. "But, seeing as you are currently civilians with ninja training, and Konoha is in need of kenjutsu specialists, I will speak with the Council about your clan's living arrangements during the next meeting, which will be held in about two days. Until then, I'll make sure that you and your family are provided with the appropriate living arrangements." With a nod, both men walked towards each other, Zokalo shaking Hiruzen's hand gratefully.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama. You have done the Roronoa clan a great service, and in return, we offer our unyielding loyalty to you and the entirety of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Hiruzen smiled warmly.

"And now, as the Sandaime Hokage, I would like to officially welcome you to the village of Konohagakure."

END PROLOGUE PART 1

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**Hello dear readers!  
**

***dodges stones and cans***

**Woah! Woah! Easy! Now, a lot of you are probably wondering "when are you going to update your Megaman story?" or "Why are you starting a new story?" and possibly "why don't you get off your lazy ass and post more?" Well, I'm here to offer you my explanation:**

**So with school being a female dog and me being just so darn lazy, I haven't really had time to focus on this nice little hobby of mine. However, the school year is beginning to reach its end, and that means I will finally have more time to do what I want to do  
**

**Jackal: Like being lazy?  
**

**Me: Shut up you! And you're not even in this story! Why are you here!?  
**

**Jackal: *shrugs* I'm bored***

**Me: *sigh* Anyways, back on topic: Not only will I finally be able to get back to writing, but I've also got a good friend by the name of Royal9000 (check out his stories if you have the time. Very good) who's helping to keep me on track, so you can expect much more frequent updates (he's gonna nag me if I don't keep on schedule. I don't like being nagged). Now, with these trivialities out of the way, it's time to explain what exactly was the prompt for this sort of little piece of fanfiction:  
**

**This all came to be one night when I was exchanging texts with a friend. We were talking about random stuff when suddenly, I wondered what would Naruto be like if it had a character who was a lot like Zoro, from One Piece? That's when the wheels started turning, and I was hit with the biggest... er... thing of inspiration since I first started on this site. It continued to grow and grow, with more and more pieces coming together until BOOM! It became too much and I had to start putting it down. I wrote a rough draft of this Prologue, and after showing it to my buddy Royal, he said that he would spruce it up for me, and spruce it up he did (kudos to you pal. I can't thank you enough for being my unofficial betareader). Now, another thing: This will have very, VERY slight references from different anime (you probably got Roronoa and Zoro, but I'll let you figure out Zokalo and any other future references). However, this is by no means a crossover. This is more of an "Taking little tidbits from other shows and working them into one other show in a way that works" fanfiction (if that makes any sense :P). I'll of course give the disclaimers where they are due and all of that fun stuff etc., etc.**

**The real point is that I'm back and I'm better than ever. I promise you, that overhaul of _Megaman ZX: A New Evil_ will come. I just need to take the time to sit down and rework it so it doesn't seem so flipping immature (I'll be honest, I'm amazed at how much you guys like it. Thank you so much!). Thank you all so much for your understanding. **

**See ya round!**

**-The Bell of Daybreak**


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